This living wall vertical garden at Hotel Ushüaia de Ibiza in Ibiza, Spain was designed by Urbanarbolismo who were assisted in the construction by Alicante forestal and Alijardín, and was the first greenwall garden system of its type.

Ceramic terracotta containers are interconnected but can retain unique substrates and vegetation. and porosity of the terracotta permits exchange of humidity. Drip and hand irrigation methods accommodate varying watering schedules.

This week in Jetson Green Energy News, Australia has a new addition to its list of carbon neutral cities, the Indian state of Gujarat will reduce water evaporation and produce energy from solar panels over canals, a new shower head from New Zealand engineers reduces water flow by fifty percent, Wisconsin is reducing pollution from a coal plant, New England is getting new high-performance housing communities, a new solar panel reduces cooling costs, a report shows the United States is the largest wind power market, and a Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative aims to improve the U.S. manufacturing sector’s energy productivity, and we have new upcoming green events.

Melbourne Achieves Carbon Neutral Status

Low Carbon Australia, an independent carbon offsetting authority for the Australian Government, has certified the City of Melbourne to join Sydney, Yarra, and Moreland City as having met the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) for carbon neutral status.

Scott Bergford is a custom builder in Olympia, Washington, who is managing to keep his company afloat during the housing slump by building green, cottage-style homes that are affordable and use high-performance technologies and products. His Scott Homes are known to be “some of the most energy efficient houses in Washington State.”

The recently built 2,020-square-foot Inspiration Home is certified to Energy Star 3.0, EPA Indoor airPlus, and Built Green Level 5, and sold for $450,000.

With the first floor already leased to the International Living Future Institute and the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab, the remaining five floors of this 50,000 square foot green building are now available to lease in advance of its planned opening this spring.

Hayden Place, located in Culver City, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) was designed by Cuningham Group Architecture for REthink Development to serve as the international design firm’s new home office space.

Targeted for LEED Gold, the sustainable features of the 11,650 square-foot building, which was converted from an existing warehouse, include repurposed shipping containers, light sensors, efficient energy systems, natural lighting and fresh air “trickle” ventilation. Additional air filtration is provided by an indoor garden that features adaptive and native plants and is maintained by office employees.